Folk School

Natural Dyes, the Base, and the Sides

Days two through five: color some splints in Cherokee bark and root dyes, then weave the basket: a filled rectangular base about 10 by 6 inches, stakes upset sharply into walls, and side rows woven and packed one splint at a time. A reconstructed cut list for a basket about 5 by 10 by 6 inches.

  • 4 min
  • 5 steps
  • 2 questions
  • Lesson 130 of 204

In this lesson

  1. Natural dyes
  2. Lay out the base
  3. Upset the stakes
  4. Weave the sides
  5. Try it

What you need

Have itMaterialSpecQtyWhere to get it
Long stakes 3/4 in wide, the thickest splints About 7, 24 in long (10 in base + 5 + 5 sides + tucks) Your splints
Short stakes 3/4 in wide About 11, 20 in long Your splints
Filler splints Narrow, thin 6-8, about 12 in Your splints
Side weavers 3/8-1/2 in wide, about 1/16 in thick 10-12, each about 36 in (perimeter plus 3-4 in overlap) Your splints

Checkmarks are saved on this device.

Natural dyes

Cherokee basketmakers color white oak with bark and roots. Eva Taylor’s notes from Cherokee give the times 1:

  • Bloodroot, gathered in spring: orange, about 1 hour.
  • Yellowroot: yellow, about 1 hour.
  • Walnut bark: brown, a 4- to 5-hour boil.
  • Butternut bark: black, a 4- to 5-hour boil.

Older accounts also list walnut root and butternut root for browns and bloodroot for red; yellowroot was once gathered so heavily it nearly vanished locally 2. Grow bloodroot or buy it rather than digging wild plants. Simmer the coiled splints in the dye bath, let them cool in it, rinse, dry, and re-soak before weaving. North House’s class offers “some natural dyes on the splints to add color” 3; a few dyed weavers in the sides are enough to make a pattern.

Quick check

How long does a walnut or butternut bark dye bath take for splints?

Lay out the base

The stakes are the basket’s foundation 4. For a basket about 10 inches long, 6 wide, and 5 high, this reconstruction uses:

  • about 7 long stakes, 3/4 inch wide and 24 inches long, running the length;
  • about 11 short stakes, 20 inches long, running across.

Lay the long stakes side by side on a table with gaps a little narrower than the stakes. Weave the short stakes across them one at a time, over-under, alternating which stakes they go over, until the woven center measures about 10 by 6 inches. Mark the center lines with a pencil and keep the base square by measuring diagonals.

Four panels. One, base: about 7 long stakes crossed over and under about 11 short stakes in plain weave, fillers closing the gaps, squared to about 10 by 6 inches, stakes 3/4 inch, weavers narrower. Two, upset: stakes bent up 90 degrees hard at the base edge. Three, sides: rows woven over and under the upright stakes, each overlapped behind 3 or 4 stakes and started on a new side, packed down. Four, rim and lashing: a rim inside and out with a filler on top, lashing wrapped through the gaps, crossing in an X at the handle.
Base, upset, sides, rim and lashing. The stake counts are a reconstruction. Credit: StudyCorner diagram after the WCU Craft Revival glossary, Bittersweet, and Eva Taylor · CC BY 4.0 · Source

A filled bottom has extra narrow splints woven in to close the gaps, so small things don’t fall through 5; makers call these fillers or bye-stakes 4. Weave fillers between the long stakes across the base. Cherokee makers start differently, laying 3 splints and crossing 3 more and expanding outward with wider, sturdier splints, then adding a border splint around the bottom 1.

Upset the stakes

Wet the stakes well. At the edge of the base, bend each stake sharply upward, a full 90 degrees, creasing it right at the corner of the base. A crisp crease gives square corners and straight walls.

Quick check

What does ‘upsetting’ the stakes mean?

Weave the sides

The sides are woven one row at a time with thinner weavers, 3/8 to 1/2 inch wide 1:

  1. Start a weaver behind a stake on one side and weave over-under all the way around.
  2. Overlap the end behind 3 or 4 stakes past the start, so the overlap is hidden.
  3. Start the next row on a different side, so the overlaps don’t stack up.
  4. Each row goes over the stakes the previous row went under.
  5. Pack each row down tight against the last with your fingers or a packing tool.

Keep the walls straight by drawing the stakes gently up and inward as you weave; let them flare and the basket grows wider at the top. Ten to twelve rows bring a basket like this to about 5 inches high. Cherokee makers spend 3 to 5 hours weaving the sides 1.

A basketmaker in a hat sits under trees holding a large finished rectangular white oak basket, with an unfinished basket at his feet showing its upright stakes and woven lower rows, and a finished handled basket on the ground beside him.
A rectangular white oak basket in progress (at his feet), with finished ones. Credit: Virginia State Parks staff · CC BY 2.0 · Source

Try it

Dye three weavers different colors and weave them as one band three rows from the top. It’s the simplest way to see how a basket’s pattern comes from the weaving order.

Lesson complete

Nice work.

1day streak
0/1today's goal
–correct

Up next · 3 min

Handle, Rim, and Lashing

Next lesson
Back to course Today
Sources for this lesson
  1. 1
    Eva Taylor. Hunting the White Oak. Cherokee Central Schools Cultural Department. verifiedTree centers become rims and handles. Preparing splints takes one to two days. Lay 3 splints, cross 3 more, expand with wider sturdier splints, add a border splint around the bottom, bend the stakes up and weave the sides one splint at a time (3-5 hours), fold and tuck the top ends, attach handle and rim; a handle woven in at the bottom is permanent, one added later replaceable. Dyes: bloodroot (orange, 1 hour), yellowroot (yellow, 1 hour), walnut bark (brown) and butternut bark (black), 4-5 hour boils.
  2. 2
    Bonita Freeman-Witthoft. Cherokee Indian Craftswomen and the Economy of Basketry. Expedition (Penn Museum) 19(3). 1977. verifiedSapwood is split tangentially into sticks about 2 inches wide; ten to twelve splints come from a good oak stick about an inch square; splints dried in coils and re-wet before use. Dyes: walnut bark or root and butternut root for browns, bloodroot for red; yellowroot nearly exterminated locally.
  3. 3
    White Oak Basketry. North House Folk School. verifiedSix-day course (Oct 6-12, 2026, with a day off for Basket Week's Gathering Day), instructor Mary W. Thompson, $670 tuition plus $220 materials. Starting from the log, students split, cut, and scrape their own white oak splints, may use natural dyes, and weave a horizontal plain-weave basket about 5 x 10 x 6 inches with an optional handle. Tools: sloyd or carving knife, scissors, leather to cover the leg when scraping; optional packing tool and clips.
  4. 4
    Craft Revival: Baskets Glossary. Western Carolina University Hunter Library. verifiedTerms: stakes (the foundation); bye-stakes or fillers; row-by-row weaving with an even number of working ends; spiraling; chasing; rim (thick splits around the top); lashing (binding rims to the body); tails (handle ends inserted into the side weaving).
  5. 5
    Peter Follansbee. Basket tour pt 2. Joiner's Notes (blog). 2020. verifiedYou split white oak growth rings apart instead of pounding as with ash. Related posts: filled bottoms use extra splints so small items don't fall through; a double-woven bottom's added splints can be slipped up into the side weaving.

Further reading

  • White Oak Baskets (from Bittersweet). Appropedia. verifiedFrom the Lebanon, Missouri, school folklore magazine Bittersweet (maker Lyn Marble). Logs 4-5 ft long and 4-5 inches in diameter, cut in early spring or late fall. A small round-handled basket: bottom strips 24 in long and 1/2-3/4 in wide; side weavers 4 ft long, 3/4-1 in wide; rims two pieces 1 in x 4 ft; lashing 1/8-1/4 in x 4 ft; handle 2 ft, 1/8-1/4 in thick, 3/8 in wide, from bark-side wood. Soak dried splints overnight. Lashing passes under the rims and through the gap beside each stake, crossing in an X at the handle, the end pushed back through the first two wraps.

Previous: Riving the Log and Making Splints